Enterprise cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) connections will increase from 81.8 million in 2011 to 217.5 million in 2015.

During the same time frame, connectivity revenue will double from $3.1 billion to $6.7 billion, according to Yankee Group (News - Alert). M2M market is expected to be one of the highest growth areas in the wireless space during the next decade.

“Falling hardware prices and the increased availability of end-to-end solutions have established a more accessible M2M market for enterprises around the world,” said John Keough, research associate and creator of the forecast at Yankee Group, in a statement. “As early adopters trumpet the success of their deployments, enterprises are turning out in droves to explore how their organizations can profit from M2M technology.”

Yankee Group focused on ten different M2M market segments, including fleet management, industrial applications, security, consumer telematics, ATM/kiosk/point of sale, mHealth, connected energy, digital signage, pay-as-you-drive insurance and rent-to-own/subprime lending applications.

According to the study, enterprises which are looking for cutting costs will drive steady growth in fleet management and ATM, vending and point-of-sale applications. These segments are likely to register CAGR of 17 percent.

Asian markets are going to perform well by 2015. Overall connections in Asia-Pacific countries will grow to 67 million at a CAGR of 30 percent. Main countries which see substantial growth in M2M include China, Korea and Japan.

Connected energy and mHealth will be potential markets in the long term. Utilities will increase cooperation with carriers. Cellular technology for smart grid and smart metering projects will increase in 2014 and 2015. Though mHealth created substantial buzz in the market, lack of business models and substantial regulatory hurdles may hamper the growth.

Recently, InfoCom announced that the M2M market has significant growth potential worldwide. M2M has become a strategically important market for many companies and network operators as it provides new possibilities for services and solutions for various products and processes.



Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell